‘We Need a Aircraft to Go Find Them’: Adolescent’s Urgent Plea to Rescue Loved Ones Stranded Off Down Under Coast Revealed

“We ended up adrift out there,” the teenager explains to the triple-zero dispatcher, following a swim 2.5 miles in treacherous, open ocean and jogging two kilometres to summon rescue for his family.

The dispatcher questions how much time has gone by since he began.

“[It] was ages past … I think they’re far offshore. I think we need a rescue aircraft to locate them,” he says.

Police have disclosed the recorded plea made in recent weeks after the youth departed from his loved ones drifting at sea off the Western Australian coast to fetch help.

His demeanour remains clear and calm, even as he details his concern for his family members.

“I don’t know what their status is right now, and I’m really scared,” he tells the dispatcher.

“Mum said go get help … We were in massive trouble.”

The Dangerous Incident

The holidaymakers had been swept 4km out to sea in stormy conditions while using kayaks and paddleboards.

His parent asked him to take his kayak and get assistance, so the teenager began, discarding first his failing kayak then his bulky flotation device to swim the distance.

After making it to shore – four hours later – he ran for 1.25 miles to get to a cell phone.

“Hello, my name is Austin … I have a brother and sister, Beau and Grace. Beau is 12 and Grace is eight,” he explains the operator.

“I’m sitting on the beach right now, and I have to also add – I think I need an paramedic because I think I have hypothermia … I’m really, I’m completely exhausted. I have heatstroke, and I feel like I’m about to faint.”

A Vacation Gone Wrong

The group was on holiday in Quindalup, 125 miles south of Perth. They began their trip from Geographe Bay around 10am on a Friday in late January.

The parent later recalled that they were playing around when the kids “went out a bit too far”. The breeze strengthened, they were separated from their equipment, and started drifting.

“It pretty much all turned bad very, very quickly,” she noted.

The mother also described having to make “an incredibly tough choice” to send her son to make the swim for help.

“I knew he was the best swimmer and he had the ability to succeed,” she said.

The Search Operation

The teenager explained being “extremely winded”.

“I just keep swimming, I do breaststroke, I do front crawl, I do a floating stroke,” he said.

The distress call was made at around 6pm.

At roughly 8.30pm, ten hours after they first departed, the family were spotted and rescued. They had drifted about 14km out to sea.

The audio was shared with the mother’s permission.

A police sergeant who managed the rescue mission said the family was in an “extremely dire situation”.

“They were in genuine danger, and time was absolutely critical given how long they had been in the water and with light running out.

“What Austin did was nothing short of extraordinary. His fortitude and resolve in those conditions were astonishing, and his actions were instrumental in bringing about a positive result.”

The officer also praised how the teenager calmly conveyed vital details.

When asked to identify the paddleboards for the rescue team, the teenager said: “They were coloured green and white.”

“And I’m not sure if it’s still on, but they had this fishing line, and there was a fish hooked. Since we caught one.”